KAPA‘A — There was no school at Kapa‘a High School except for about 120 seniors, Tuesday. The seniors made their way through the school’s Lower Campus en route to their senior project presentations, appearing before a panel of judges made
KAPA‘A — There was no school at Kapa‘a High School except for about 120 seniors, Tuesday.
The seniors made their way through the school’s Lower Campus en route to their senior project presentations, appearing before a panel of judges made up of community volunteers.
“The senior projects prepares the student for the real world,” said Janis Gowan, a language arts teacher at Kapa‘a High School. “This is mandatory for all seniors and is a requirement of the Board of Education for a report card.”
Gowan said the senior projects are coordinated by the school’s Language Arts program and provides students with all the skills they need for college, the real world, testing programs, careers and, one of the hardest, speaking before people.
Recently, the school presented its Virtual Enterprise program to the public at the Kaua‘i Beach Resort, a project where students, not necessarily seniors, work on creating an enterprise.
“This offers students similar skills and is currently offered through the social studies program,” Gowan said. “But because it’s so similar to the senior projects, the school is working to try and have it under one umbrella.”
One of the judges, Gowan said she’s witnessed three projects within the short morning session with the best one being presented on native plants in Hawai‘i and how to protect and preserve them.
Senior Jared Lehmann also delved with local culture, his topic being Wood Carving in Polynesian Culture.
Armed with samples of wood carving utilizing different types of local wood, including driftwood, Lehmann’s anxiety was prolonged when his flash drive containing the computerized slide show was delayed in arriving.
Tyler Shimauchi took a different approach, borrowing his cousin’s culinary coat from the American Culinary Federation and carrying a covered tray of pastries.
“This took two days to make,” Shimauchi said, taking up his position outside his designated classroom.
Calvin Paleka, assistant athletic director for Kapa‘a High School, said this year’s program was better than last year’s — at least, it wasn’t raining.
